Best Blogging Buddies Award

Hey guys.  This is my first post in a while haha xD  Have you missed your favorite panda?  -.-  Well, anywho, I was nominated by my pal Riv from Fantasies of a Pocket Human (like months ago...) to do this award, so... here goes.  (Riv, sorry for taking so long!  We're still friends, right?)

Now I'll have to answer 15 questions posted by my good friend, then nominate some of my own personal buddies and ask them 15 questions!  What fun.

1. Summer or winter?

Hmm... Summer has no school but there are bees... winter has snow and possible snow days... I'll have to say summer.  

2. Favorite candy?

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups... I think...

3. Travel to Australia or France?

Australia.  It's near New Zealand, which is where The Lord of the Rings was filmed :D :D :D

4. Favorite subject?

English


5. Favorite Disney movie? (Yes, of course I asked that question! XD)

Tangled... or The Lion King... or Bolt... I don't know D:


6. Harry Potter or Hunger Games?

Hands down Hunger Games.  No contest :D


7. What is your favorite book in the series you chose above?

Probably book #2, Catching Fire.


8. Ice cream or cookies?

Depends on the cookies and ice cream... Warm peanut butter cookies or warm chocolate chip cookies, then definitely cookies.  Mint chocolate chip ice cream, then definitely ice cream...


9. Favorite type of food?

Blueberries!  :D


10. Biology or chemistry?

-.-  Neither!  But if I had to pick... chemistry.  


11. Chocolate or vanilla?


Vanilla.


12. Dog or cat?

Uh... probably dog... but we have good cats and a good dog so... I don't know haha.


13. Skydiving or paragliding?

Again, neither!  But... paragliding if I had to pick.


14. Rock climbing or ziplining?

Rock climbing.


15. Morning person or night owl?

More likely night owl... 


Now, I nominate... uhh... Andrew from The Blog of Andrew!  Now for my 15 questions...

1. What's your favorite book/movie genre?
2. PS4 or Xbox One?
3. What's your favorite movie/movie series?
4. What's your favorite color?
5. Who's your favorite actor?
6. How many pets do you have?
7. What exotic animal that is usually not considered to be a pet animal (ex. gorilla, giraffe, elephant...) would you like as a pet?
8. What do you do for fun?
9. What's your favorite number?
10. What's your favorite vegetable?
11. Do you have a favorite character from a book/movie/video game?
12. Why do you like the character you said for the above question?
13. How did you hear about NaNoWriMo?  
14. What's the longest thing you've written?
15. Which author would you say inspired you most to write?

And voila! I'm done with my first post in like... eons.  >.>  Hopefully I'll be able to get more consistent from now on ... xD  School gets in the way sometimes though... :P

For now, that's all from me!

Myth: the "Panda With a Pencil"

Short Story Part 6 *drumroll*

It's been a while, hasn't it? Eh.  Better late than never, I like to think.  Well, I've been in school for like one and a half weeks, though it feels like much longer (thanks to chemistry no doubt).  xD  Anywho, without much further ado, we'll end this six-part-long journey.  (And maybe the main character will actually finally get hit in the head with a boulder...)

The Short Story Consisting of Words in Which a Dragon Who Cannot Tell a Single Lie Gets Hit in the Head With a Boulder Part Six

With boulders flying everywhere, Marius had to, understandably, dodge and weave as he flew.  The stone giants were ripping portions off of the stone wall surrounding the emperor's castle (which, the emperor had claimed, was now unassailable.  But that comment was made before he realized that stone giants existed, so...).  

A giant boulder whistled by Marius's head, so close he could feel the breeze as the rock passed him by. Turning to his left, Marius saw a smaller stone giant hurling more boulders right at him.  Veering, Marius changed his direction so that he was heading toward the stone giant.

As he dodged the giant flying boulders, Marius wondered how he could break the stone giant's stone covering.  His claws would likely have no effect (he'd tried scratching through stone in his alone time when he was bored before) and his fire couldn't melt rock (yes, he had been so alone one time that he even tried that).

But as a boulder came right for him, he had a sudden idea.  He grabbed hold of the boulder as it flew past, then swung it around and hurled it back at the stone giant.  Something like that would likely have pulled a human's arms out of their sockets, but for dragons, who have arm socket things that are incredibly strong, such a feat was easy.

The stone giant looked shocked as the boulder came flying back, but it was far too massive to nimbly dodge the projectile.  As the boulder smashed into the giant, the stone exoskeleton crumbled and fell to the ground in pieces.  

And on top of the wreckage lay three armored, very dizzy looking dwarves.  They stood, gained their balance, shook their hands at Marius, and cried out in their own dwarvish language which Marius understood none of.

He had no idea how three dwarves were able to control such a massive suit of stone armor, but he figured the humans capable of dispatching the dwarves.  He called out to the dragons and told them about his tactic of throwing the boulders back at the giants.  Hesitant at first, the dragons complied when they saw the crumbled stone giant.

The stone giants saw this too, and as the first few began crumbling and falling to the ground, the rest began to try to run.  But none made it far.

Since the boulders were no longer getting thrown at the dragons, they had to pick up their own and throw them, but even that hindrance didn't slow them down much as they vengefully dispatching the giants one by one.

After all had fallen, the dragons made their way back to the castle's courtyard where the human army was just finishing off the last of the dwarves.  The dragons landed and looked at the humans as Emperor Vaidd stubbornly stared back, refusing to sheath his sword.  

"Both humans and dragons have felt the sting of death today," Marius growled.  "Let that be enough.  If you will not challenge us, Emperor, we will take our leave."

Vaidd scowled, but lowered his weapon.  Just as Marius was about to take off, however, he had second thoughts.  He raised his weapon and charged.

Roaring, Marius surged forward, caught Vaidd in his grasp, and lifted off into the air quickly.  Right as they were above the castle, Vaidd cut his sword through Marius's foot, and the dragon, howling in pain, dropped the emperor.

Vaidd fell and tumbled through the air, landing heavily on the top of the castle.  He looked up and saw Marius circling back, so he quickly took refuge behind one of his castle's towers just as hot flames spewed forth and engulfed the tower and shot from either side of him.

As the flames stopped, he pulled a dagger from its sheath, jumped out from his hiding place, and hurled it at Marius.  The dragon reared in pain as he smashed into the castle, shooting shingles everywhere.  Vaidd cautiously moved forward, wary that Marius could spring up at anytime.  But as he neared the dragon, he threw all caution to the wind as he cried out and raised his sword the sky, intending to deliver the final blow. 

But he never did.

With a quick sweep of his tail, Marius knocked the emperor from the roof of the castle.  The emperor would have fallen to his death, but Marius swooped down and caught him.  Flying toward the ground, the dragon dropped the emperor from a more reasonable height, swooping down to pin him to the ground.  "This is for my imprisonment," Marius growled, willing fire to spew forth from his mouth.

"No, please!" a trembling voice behind him cried.

Marius turned back, swallowing the fire (which tasted horrible, in case you were wondering).  He saw Junior standing there.

"Don't kill him," the boy pleaded.  "Just please go.  Leave him alive."

Marius looked back at the emperor on the ground, and instead of seeing defiance on his eyes, Marius saw fear.  Fear of death perhaps?

Or was it fear that Marius would fly into a death rage and kill Vaidd's son? 

Looking back at Junior, Marius said, "Fine.  He won't die at my claws today."  He released the emperor and flew back to the rest of the dragons.  "Let's fly."

It was at that moment that a random boulder came flying through the air and hit Marius in the head.  (Ah, there it is!)  Looking around, Marius saw nothing that could have thrown it.  Growling in frustration, he and the rest of the dragons lifted off into the air and flew away.

---

And as they were flying away, a red dragon flew close to Marius.  "So, did you ever tell him what we were really scared of?"

Marius chuckled.  "No, of course not."

"He might suspect it, you know, when there are a surplus of rabbits in the forest instead of deer."

Marius paled.  "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." 

"It's funny how we dragons, who are so large, could be afraid of something so small..." the red dragon mused quietly.

"Do not underestimate the power of rabbits," Marius warned.  "They're tiny little monsters waiting to be unleashed.  Cute, I'll give you.  But I've heard stories of dragons that have gotten too close..."

----------------------------

And so we reached the end of Marius's story.  Long, perhaps confusing, and completely unnecessary!  I wonder what happened to the humans after that... did father and son have a tender moment of reconciliation?  Mayhaps.  But that's for you to figure out.  Fanfiction moment, people!  xD  

Anyway, that was a pretty fun journey.  I thought at least. Well, I have no idea what else I should say.  This is a first draft.  Maybe I'll revise it, make it better, and stuff.  Maybe I won't.  Who knows?

Anyway, comment below and stuff.  It's been a while since my last post, but since this monumental thing is over, hopefully I can get back to more consistent stuff... xD  

See you soon!

Myth: the "Panda With a Pencil"

When Summer Ends

It's always on the last day of summer when you think "Goodness, where did all that time go?"   and when you realize that, yet again, the school year is approaching.  It is then that you realize that all your free time will get zapped up during schooling hours and even beyond while one is working on homework.

It is in the face of such depressing odds that a humble panda such as myself recognizes the true worth of two things:  study halls and an hour-and-a-half long bus ride.

Study halls.  These help tremendously if you don't want to spend hours upon end late at night doing homework (because who does it right when they get home?) that is really boring and makes you want to sleep.  Unless, of course, you're an imaginative panda like me and prefer to spend study halls writing little stories and drawing comic strips.  Then, you're stuck doing homework late at night.  But then of course it takes way too long, and you have to wake up early, so you have to go to sleep, so you rush the homework...  

Or you just sleep a little less than usual!  This brings up my second point.  A bus ride that is one and a half hours long roughly.  A good time for catching a wink or two on the way to school.  Unless you snore... which is then kind of embarrassing.  But nevertheless!  An exhausted panda will do what an exhausted panda must do.  Another problem to take into account is when the bus jolts and a certain little panda face is jostled into the hard window...  

It's always really funny when the end of summer comes.  Because I vaguely recall, sometime during the middle of summer, thinking "Wow, a lot of time has gone by.  It seems like months since we were in school!" and now I'm all like "Did I just get out of school yesterday!?"  -.-

It's very depressing.

I have developed a certain theory.  I think that the heat from summer fries your brain.  Then when it starts getting cooler in the final days of summer (though the past few days where I am have been anything but cool) your brain starts thinking clearly again.  

It's a simple theory that's still in the works, but I firmly believe that it's true.  

Anyway, I just had to apologize for the long long long wait for an update from your favorite panda.  Especially since I left you in a huge cliffhanger at the end of the second-to-last part of the short story ;)  

But I have been mulling over and working on the final part, and I wished to share my thoughts about when summer ends with you as I told you that the final installment in the short story is coming up.  (Where, finally, our favorite dragon Marius will in fact get hit in the head with a boulder.)  

Also, I got my permit today, and I just want to memorialize this momentous occasion.

...

...

Well, someone needs to bake a cake!  :D

Myth: the "Panda With a Pencil"

Short Story Part 5

Ah, we come now to part five of this epic tale.  It will, most definitely, be one of the most intense parts.  It will, without a doubt, be the most exciting part.  It will, without a shadow of unclearnness (yes that's a word I made up just now) one of the best things you've ever read.  In your whole life.

Well, if you believe such things.  It might be your least favorite bit of writing ever.  Who knows?  I personally hope that you opinion falls into one of the first few options, rather than the last, but that's totally up to you.  Kind of at least...

Hmm.

Anyway, here we go.

The Short Story Consisting of Words in Which a Dragon Who Cannot Tell a Single Lie Gets Hit in the Head With a Boulder Part Five

The dragons arrived at the castle on time, as expected.  They issued their final demands to Vaidd so that the whole castle could hear and went on to say that they had intercepted and killed Thezin and the rest of the men sent out to retrieve certain valuable information.

Vaidd assembled his army within the walls of the castle and ordered that no one should leave the castle grounds.  He entered the armory and equipped himself with a sword, shield, and full suit of armor.  As he was putting his gleaming helmet on, his son walked in.

"Father," Junior said.  "What are you doing?  Just release Marius!  Why keep the dragon?"

"We have several days before the dragons attack us, son," Vaidd responded coldly.  "My armies and I will attack before they're ready.  We'll take them by surprise and destroy them."

"At what cost?" Junior asked.  "How many men will you lose?  How can you be sure that you'll destroy all the dragons?"

"I can't be sure," Vaidd whispered.  "But it's the only chance I have."

"Just let Marius go!" Junior pleaded, tears streaming down his cheeks.  "Don't throw your life away!"

Vaidd glanced quickly at his son as he put his helmet on.  "No.  If I release the dragon then I will have given up.  The dragons will have already beaten me.  I would rather that, in my defeat, I take a number of them with me."

"So you will force me to go through what you went through?" Junior asked.  "You will have me live life without a father?"

Vaidd brushed past his son.  "If you do not believe that I am strong enough to win, then yes, that is what I'm asking you to do."

---

Vaidd led his massive army out of his massive castle (which was really really massive, in case you're still confused).  The dragons were right outside of the gate and glared at him.  "What are you doing? Emperor Vaidd Marius Verinicus VII?" the golden dragon asked, a growl forming on his tongue.

Vaidd unsheathed his sword.  "I'm going to destroy you."

Multiple things happened in that single moment.  Vaidd called his armies to charge.  The golden dragon unleashed an ear-splitting roar that brought all the dragons into the air and flying towards the assembled human army.

And then several massive rocks came flying right into the courtyard.  

The first rock smashed into Vaidd's army and rolled until it hit the broad stone wall marking the castle's borders.  The second rock hit the golden dragon and smashed him into the ground.  The third rock flew over both armies and shattered a portion of the exterior wall.

The two armies looked to where the rocks had come from, and they saw at least twenty stone giants (giants made of stone) lumbering towards them.  

"Of all the misfortunes we could have encountered," Vaidd breathed.  Looking to the rest of his army, he cried, "Back to the fortress!  Back to the castle!"

But just as the army was heading back to the safety of the castle, a boulder thrown by one of the giants smashed into the doorway of the castle and chunks of the wall fell, blocking their only entrance.  

The army now turned to face the dragons again. The dragons were facing the giants, who were lifting up sections of the wall to throw.  Stepping into the courtyard, the giants hurled what boulders they had, smashing into the armies of men and dragons and into the walls of the castle.  

The dragons charged at the giants.  Determined not to die bowing in cowardice, Vaidd lifted his sword and charged at the giants as well.

And above, from his eagle's eye vantage point, Marius snarled as he watched the frenzied fight.  Agitated, he flew around in his tiny cage, bouncing off the bars.  He needed to go down their and help the dragons.  

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Junior standing there, looking remorseful.  "I'm sorry I couldn't have prevented this," the boy said, reaching up and pulling a lever.  The bars surrounding Marius lifted and retracted into the stone above him.

Nodding gratefully toward the boy, Marius leaped into action and flew down into the frenzied battle.

First, he would help dispatch the stone giants.

Then, Emperor Vaidd Marius Verinicus VII would be his.

---------

We're almost at the end now!  Probably just one more part.  Six parts is a nice round number to finish at.  The ending will be strong, emotionally satisfying, and will leave you begging for more.

Probably, at least.  ;)  

Anyway, you'll have to wait and see if the ending is as I promised until next time.

Myth: the "Panda With a Pencil"

Short Story Part 4

"Remember -- true courage is knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."

-- Gandalf; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Pretty awesome advice, I'd say.  Relevant to the fourth part of my famously awesome short story? Not really.  But awesome nonetheless.

The Short Story Consisting of Words in Which a Dragon Who Cannot Tell a Single Lie Gets Hit in the Head With a Boulder Part Four

It had been days since Marius had had a dream where he was flying instead of falling.  When the dream came again, he found that he was once again surrounded by the same dragons as before.  The one flying right beside him, a red one, looked at Marius and said, "War is coming."

"What do you mean?" Marius asked.

"The dragons are moving against Emperor Vaidd Marius Verinicus VII.  If he does not release you in one week, that is when we will strike.  All shall perish who remain in the castle, and we shall free you."

"He came to me a few days ago," Marius replied.  "He said that he sent out a man named Thezin to find some way to keep me from remaining silent, and that when he was sent out, Thezin swore to return within a fortnight.  If you give Vaidd a week, Thezin may return before then and force me to give them a massive advantage."

The red dragon growled.  "We will do our best to arrive before Vaidd can use anything against you."

Thinking quickly, Marius said, "The boy.  The emperor's son.  He's not a bad sort.  Will you still kill him?"

A golden dragon swooped down beside Marius and grunted.  "We had mercy on Vaidd when he was a child and this is how he turned out.  We leave none alive this time. No mistakes."

"But Vaidd didn't know that his father and captured a dragon," Marius pleaded.  "Give me a chance to talk to him."

The golden dragon looked confused.  "And what do you hope to accomplish?"

"My freedom," Marius replied.

"You have a week," the golden dragon said.  "We will arrive at the castle then.  If you have not been freed, we will assume that the emperor won't free you by means of peaceful negotiations and we will attack."

"But will you leave his son alive?" Marius pressed.

"So that he can grow old and follow in his father's footsteps?" the red dragon asked.  "If we spare him, he will likely view that as ridicule rather than mercy. He will view us as monsters who killed his father and he will react like his father did."

"But if we slaughter everyone needlessly," Marius said, "maybe we really are monsters.  I would guess that many who reside in the castle have no idea that I am captured.  Many are oblivious to what's going on in the emperor's mind.  Will you kill the innocent?"

"We do not kill wantonly," the golden dragon conceded.  "In a week, if the emperor does not release you, we will appear in the castle grounds so that none can not know of our presence, and we will issue an ultimatum."

"What ultimatum?" Marius asked.

"If you are not released in three days, we will destroy the castle and those inside," the golden dragon replied.  "In those three days, we will allow those who had no idea of your incarceration to leave.  But those who are left in the castle after three days, if you have not been released, we will destroy."

"Do that," Marius agreed.  "But be wary of when Thezin returns."

"I will send scouts to waylay him," the red dragon said, "and I will personally lead them."

"Very well," the golden dragon said.  "Marius, you will be released soon.  By one way or another, your imprisonment will not last long.  I swear it."

Marius nodded, then awoke.

Short Story Part 3

You know what all of my favorite trilogies have in common?  They all have three books, or three parts, whatever you want to call them.  And usually, the third part is the most intense part, because that's when the hour will be darkest.  That's when the heroes will have their victory over the evil baddies.  That's when all that's been set up in the two previous books will finally be resolved.

That's when the story ends.  If you're like a certain character from a TV show, you tear out the final pages of a book/story because you don't like endings.  You don't want the story to end.  But endings are, in their own way, good.  Maybe you love the story.  Maybe you don't want to end the trilogy and leave those characters behind.  

But the thing about endings is that you have a chance to begin again.  Maybe you'll begin a new series and get attached to totally new characters.  Or maybe you'll reread the same series and get attached to the same characters all over again.

Except this time while you're reading the series, you'll know how it ends.  You'll know that no matter how dark the tunnel gets, no matter how dark the night seems, the light will come again.

(Unless it's an utterly depressing story where evil wins... that would be weird.)

Now, after all that, we'll move on with the short story part three.  WHOOOO.

The Short Story Consisting of Words in Which a Dragon Who Cannot Tell a Single Lie Gets Hit in the Head With a Boulder Part Three

(I actually didn't look back at previous posts to see if I got that title right, soooo... hopefully I did XD)

Vaidd Marius Verinicus VII was not a happy camper.  

He usually wasn't, but this was one of his bad days.  As in he was throwing things as soon as he woke up, screaming at the top of his lungs.  It had been two days since Thezin had left to search for some way to get the dragon to talk.  Two whole days!

"That should be enough," Vaidd roared, veins in his neck bulging.  "Where is he?"

A servant opened the door to his chambers, carrying breakfast.  The platter was rattling because the man's hands were shaking uncontrollably.  None of the servants wished to be near Vaidd when he was having a good day, so, naturally, a bad day was far worse.

"I would bet," the servant stammered, "that Thezin has found a way to do just that and is returning even as we speak."

Vaudd grunted, straightening his pajamas.  "He's a slow brute.  I should have sent someone more efficient."

"He promised he'd be back within a fortnight," the servant said.  "We shouldn't rush him, milord.  Mayhaps he's taking his time to find just the right--"

"Don't take his side unless you want to take his place," Vaidd growled.  "And pour me something to drink."

As the emperor crunched on some toast, the servant cautiously poured some creamy milk from a jug into an elegant goblet and handed the cup to Vaidd.  "As you requested, milord."

Vaidd grunted as he snatched the goblet from the servant and drank it in one go.  Looking at the rest of the platter, which the servant was still required to hold, he waved his hand dismissively and said, "See to my son."

Relieved, the servant bowed and exited the bedroom, heading down the hall and into the room of the emperor's son.  The boy was awake and sitting up in bed and jumped slightly as the servant entered, carrying the food tray.

The servant bowed apologetically.  "I'm sorry, young master," he stammered.  "I did not mean to startle you."

"What's Father going on about?" Junior asked as the servant respectfully approached.

"Thezin has taken more than a day, master," the servant replied, "and so milord is upset.  I tried to tell him that Thezin is just--" The servant paused for a moment, and then said, "I'm sorry.  It's not my place."

As Junior ate, he gestured for the servant to put the platter down on the side table next to the bed.  Glancing around cautiously, as if afraid of getting caught being lazy, the servant did so.

"What's your name?" Junior asked.

"You needn't know my name, young master," the servant replied. "It is of little value."

"Your name," Junior insisted kindly.

Looking at the emperor's son, the servant saw only kindness and said, "As you wish, master.  Ges."

"Now now," Junior chided, chuckling.  "I'm no good at guessing games."

"No," the servant hastily replied.  "My name is Ges."

Junior's eyes widened. "Oh.  I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, master," Ges said, raising his hands.  "I'm sorry for confusing you."

"Ges," Junior said slowly.  "Can I ... tell you a secret?"

Ges looked shocked.  No one had ever made a request like this.  He had been asked to deliver meals, clean the stables, train the horses, clean the toilets... but never to keep a secret.  Hesitantly, he said, "I can, sir."

Junior nodded slightly, licking his dry lips.  "Could you pour me some milk, please?"

As Ges did so, Junior continued, saying, "I think holding Marius here is a mistake."

Handing Junior a goblet (smaller than the one the emperor received but no less intricate), Ges looked shocked.  "The ... the dragon, sir?"

Junior nodded.  "The other dragons will come for him, I'm sure.  Father said that the dragon attacked long ago was unprovoked, but I have reason to believe otherwise."

"I am sure that milord wouldn't lie to you," Ges said.  "The dragons must have attacked unprovoked."

"Marius the dragon believes that my father isn't lying.  At least that he thinks he isn't."

"How can that be so?"  Ges asked.

As Junior explained what Marius the dragon had told him, neither he nor Ges realized that Emperor Vaidd Marius Verinicus VII was listening just outside Junior's door.

-------------

So, it's not quite a trilogy.  It'll be a little longer than that.  As always, I hope you enjoy and that you'll continue reading when the next installment comes out.  

Myth: the "Panda With a Pencil"

Top Ten Animated Movies

We all knew something like this would have to come out eventually.  After my thorough, thought-provoking post earlier concerning the pros and cons of two major animation companies, a top tens list was perfectly inevitable.

Alas, this top tens list isn't exactly a "top tens" list.  Which means that these ten movies aren't exactly my favorite animated movies out there, but they're really really really close.  They're on this list because if you asked me if I wanted to watch one of them, I'd likely say yes.  (Unless I'm doing something of massive importance.  ;P)  

Anyway, here we go.  Maybe these are actually my top ten favorite... My opinion changes, though.  All I know is that, as I said a couple posts ago, Kung Fu Panda 2 is my all time favorite animated movie.  So with that, we'll start off the list with:

1.
Kung Fu Panda 2!  Betcha didn't see that coming ;D  I loved this movie a lot.  Pushing aside my tendencies to love all things involved with pandas, this movie had nearly everything going for it.  Great plot, likable characters, wonderful storytelling, awesome visuals... I can't really think of much negative stuff.  It's even family friendly!  Awesome action, great music... Okay, I'm done XD

2.
Disney's Bolt takes number two on my list.  This is another great movie.  Bolt is a dog on a TV show who thinks everything is real.  But can I trust you with a secret?  Everything Bolt knows is not real.  Cats are not evil (actually, that's debatable...), there is no "green-eyed man" and ... *gasp* could Penny only pretend to love him?  But Bolt is the great story of a "super" dog who realizes that even without super powers he can be heroic.  Awesome.

3.
Kung Fu Panda.  The first one takes third here.  It has basically all the awesome stuff the second has (though not in the same ways... that would just be repetitive, an adjective which most certainly should never be used to describe Kung Fu Panda 2.  Ever XD)  This first film is about a panda named Po who must become the Dragon Warrior to fight Tai Lung and save all of China.  SPOILER WARNING  He must use the Dragon Scroll to become the all-powerful warrior, and when he finally does, he sees that the scroll is empty.  This is perhaps the film's strongest feature in my sight, because it shows that in order to be special, you have to "believe your special."  (Mr. Ping, Kung Fu Panda.)  END SPOILER WARNING

4.
Tangled. Yeah, whatever, I like certain "princess" movies XD  What can you expect?  With Tangled you find likable characters, fun, witty dialogue and songs, Pascal, and a white horse.  (Pascal and the horse, whose name is Maximus, don't talk at all during the film and still remain heavily likable.  Just ... just wow XD)  And also Flynn/Eugene is just amazing.  XD  "All the things we've seen and it's only eight in the morning.  Gentlemen, this is a very big day!"

5.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  The villain in this movie is the darkest, creepiest villain out of any Disney animated movie, in my opinion.  Yes, even darker than Maleficent.  (And I haven't even seen that new movie yet...)  But his darkness doesn't quite pull down the lofty funness of Quasimodo and his gargoyle pals.  Quasi is a hunchback who has never been outside of the sanctuary he abides in, and when he finally leaves, he is ridiculed endlessly by the people for his "ugly" looks, when he is rescued by the Gypsy woman Esmerelda.  When Frollo reveals to Quasi that he intends to hunt her and the Gypsies down, Quasi must then choose between his safe, sheltered life and protecting the one woman who ever seemed to care for him.  Sounds like they get together at the end, doesn't it?  SPOILER WARNING  They don't.  END SPOILER WARNING

6.
How to Train Your Dragon has to nab this spot.  Hiccup is a pretty likable shrimp of a Viking who meets up with Toothless, a dragon, to forever change the island of Berk.  It's a fun fantasy adventure filled with adventure and bold heroics as Hiccup tries to convince his dragon-slaying father Stoic the Vast that perhaps the dragons aren't as bad as the Vikings think.  It has great dialogue, witty banter and a fun soundtrack (which earned composer John Powell his first Academy Award nomination.  Congratulations, Mr. Powell!  :D)  

7.
Frozen.  Yes, another princess movie makes its way onto my top ten list XD  But it's Disney, so what do you expect?  But perhaps you shouldn't grow to expect that from Disney anymore, since with two twists Disney throws its original princess movie formula out of the window and does something surprisingly fresh and welcome.  It pokes fun at the "love at first sight without knowing who that random prince is" concept.  It has great animation and some great songs.  And a surprising choice at the end that had me left surprised, because it was most un-Disney-like.  (Instead of un-princess-like... haha, get it, get it?  Whatever XD)

8.
Eight is a pretty good number.  It's an even number, it's divisible by four to get two, and it's divisible by two to get four.  That doesn't happen with any number but eight.  Eight is unique.  Speaking of unique, I'm reminded of a certain movie called Up.  How often do you see a film about an old dude floating away in a house shadowed by colorful balloons?  How often do you meet adventurers who have built collars for dogs that enable the dogs to speak?  How often do you journey with a Junior Wilderness Explorer in the heart of the jungle?  How often do you meet large tropical birds named Kevin?  Not too often.  Very unique.

9.
Megamind.  This movie was great.  Great story, great animation, fun characters and witty dialogue.  Great casting choices too.  Will Ferrell as Megamind and Brad Pitt and Metroman are the best.  This film didn't need the extra help to earn my approval, but it also doesn't hurt it in my eyes that the main character is blue. (Pumbaa pops in. "I'd say he's brownish gold!") Not like down in the dumps, but he's actually the color blue.  Nice, right?  

10.
I hate top tens lists. I mean, there's always an end to it.  I could just go up and change the title to top animated movies... But no.  I'll stick it to ten.  Torn between two choices, I'll have to go with The Lion King.  The Croods was very very close, but I'll go with The Lion King.  Again, great acting, great animation, beautiful songs and a wonderful story.  Not to mention a very emotional and beautifully sweeping soundtrack by Academy Award winning musical genius Hans Zimmer.  *sighs*

So, there's my top tens list.  Not only did I give the list, but I also gave some little pieces of the films that made me enjoy them so much.  Now I feel like a very critical reviewer...or not.  

Anyway, thanks for coming and thanks for waiting so long for this post XD  I had a busy weekend ;P

Myth: the "Panda With a Pencil"